merry christmas

That's us almost done here for the year - just a bit more floor mopping to be done. boo vake will be closed now until after New Year - back open on Saturday the 8th.
A big thank you to all our wonderful customers who have supported us over the last year, and to all our fabulous suppliers who have made it all possible for us to be here. Thank you!! And see you next year!

isak cups back in

Very glad to have got the newly revamped boxed sets of Isak's lidded cups/jars in today. This time they come in sets of two (same design) and come in a rather lovely matchng gift-box. And there is a new design to boot!
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above is the new Landsby lidded jars/cups....

......and old favourite - Lovebirds.

set of 2 Isak lidded jars/mugs in giftbox (Landsby, Lovebirds) £22

if beer is your thing...

The Inveralmond Brewery shop is opening it's doors this Saturday! There's bottles, gift packs & mini-casks containing a variety of Inveralmond's ales available (think there might be their Sunburst Pilsner too). The guys (including my other half) will be there from 11am until 4pm.
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Inveralmond Brewery, 22 Inveralmond Place, Inveralmond Industrial Estate, Perth PH1 3TS
(turn off at Inveralmond roundabout onto estate, then left at Screwfix, and left again at end of road)
www.inveralmond-brewery.co.uk

islay's open workshop

Friend of boo vake, drummer and jeweller extraordinaire Islay Spalding is having an open workshop event this weekend. So if you are anywhere near Dundee go visit!

Islay Spalding's biomorph studs

it's ok....we have owls!

It might be a super chilly minus 13*C here in Perth today (and our door might not want to close properly) but ALL is right with the world once more as both keys AND teabags have been remembered this morning........and we have OLAF!! Here he is in all his owly lovliness in new cushion form from the Lisa Jones Studio.

Olaf will be in good company as we seem to have a lot of owls in the shop at the moment. Just looking around we have.....Donna Wilson owl beakers & cushions, Hannah Turner ceramic owls, Robin & Mould screenprinted owls, owls on Isak trays, Stolen Thunder owl necklaces, owl brooches by Xiao Chang & Lynsey Walters, owls on Alice Melvin bird stamps, and on Lisa Jones teatowels - that is owls, owls, owls!

Olaf the Owl cushion by Lisa Jones, £34

more scarves...

Some more scarves (& hats) not in our woollies gift guide....
Above: the Rainbow, Tree Cloud, & Pinstripe scarves from Donna Wilson. All knitted in Scotland in 100% lambswool. The Tree Cloud ones are thick and cosy, whilst the Rainbow and Pinstripe ones are long and thin for multiple wrapping. Also Tip Top bobble hats in camel/red and in green/pink

And lovely handwoven scarves from Shetland weaver Emma Blain (Aamos Designs) -in Honey, Satin, & Mermaids Purse designs (bottom left to right). The Honey and Satin ones are woven in lambswool & cashmere, and the Mermaids Purse scarves are lambswool, cashmere & silk. We also have handwoven clasp purses by Emma in Honey and Fair Isle designs.

Donna Wilson: Rainbow scarves £23, Tree Cloud scarves £48, Pinstripe scarves £23, Tip Top hats £35.

Emma Blain: Honey & Satin scarves £40, Mermaids purse scarves £45, handwoven clasp purses £24.

sukie hankies & bags

Well, despite the snow we have managed to keep the doors of boo vake well and truly open throughout (having cut a path through to the High Street with our trusty dustpan) and although it looks like the weather is not about to warm up any time soon there seems to be a lot more movement out there on the streets again. Hurrah!

With the cold weather comes the inevitable sniffles and sneezes, and luckily we are on hand with these new super cute hankies from Sukie - which are now in the shop! We have Elephant, Daddy Bird, Octopus & Tiger.

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And we also have some of Sukie's organic cotton book bags, which come in three designs - Alphabet, Bird Tree & Strange Fruit.

Oh...and do remember we can do mail order throughout the UK if you can't make it into Perth. Just phone us, send us an e-mail or fill in our contact form on the website and we'll see what we can do. Payments can be made over the phone or we can send you an invoice which can be paid online.

mini pocket handkerchiefs £9, organic cotton book bags £9.50

all snowed in...

We're all snowed in here in Perth today. The schools are all closed, as are many shops & businesses, and there's not much movement out on the streets as the snow continues to fall.
And with no end in site for the big chill, what else is there to do but show-off some of the cosy wearable woollies we have in the shop at the moment from the likes of Donna Wilson, Erin McIntyre, Yungi, Catherine Tough, & Hilary grant! All the details of which can be found here.

We also have a range of very beautiful handwoven lambswool, cashmere & silk scarves by Shetland weaver Emma Blain (aka Aamos designs) which would make very special gifts indeed (£40/£45), and other lovely designs from Donna Wilson (tree cloud, rainbow, & pinstripe scarves, and tip-top hats).

Big thanks to the few brave souls who managed to make it to the shop today - with a special mention to the Ayrshire ladies (complete with walking poles) up here on holiday and hoping to make it home tomorrow. Let's hope you make it!

lightnight... and a late opening on friday

Tomorrow night (Friday 26th) is the kick-off of lightnight (em...weekend) here in Perth. Which in turn is part of the year long Perth 800 celebrations marking the 800th anniversary of the granting of the Royal Burgh Charter to Perth. To celebrate this there are lots of light type events happening across the toon - 'not only will key landmarks be illuminated, you will find dance, music, installations, exhibitions, storytelling, dramatised walks, talks, treasure hunts and much, much more' as it says in the blurb.

Here at boo vake we will be joining in by staying open to the grand old time of 8 o'clock. It will be cold out there so if you feel like joining us for respite and a wee winter warmer you know where to find us!

rob ryan

A small departure for us here at boo vake (as we don't usually take on licensed products, preferring to go straight to the maker/designer) but we couldn't resist the new goodies papercut artist Rob Ryan has designed for Wild & Wolf (I know, shame on us!). So for a limited time only we have a selection of these wares, the star of which I think will be the boxed set of 4 'four seasons' plates. Also we have mugs (above), notebooks, purses, wash/cosmetic bags, and some rather large bunting (which is virtually the length of the shop), all with Rob's very recognisable designs on. Pictures of more to appear soon.

boxed set of 4 'four seasons' 9" plates £25, boxed mugs £9, notebooks £8, wash bag £23, cosmetic bag £18, purse £10, printed cotton bunting (in bag) £25.

in the kitchen....

And staying in the theme....

These are some of the other things we have in store for kitchen dwellers. Details of which can be found here.

stuart gardiner

Introducing the 'glove & hate' single oven mitt by Stuart Gardiner - now in boo vake! Complete with hairy wrists and chunky gold chain, with 'love' on one side and 'hate' on other. Perfect!

And another one for foodies - Stuart's 'seasonal guide to British fruit & vegetables' tea-towel (which is kind of self explanatory). A guide to when we should be eating what, and a perfect gift for the budding cook or gardener.
'glove & hate' single oven mitt £14, 'seasonal guide...' tea-towel £9.50

open house

Friend of boo vake photographic artist Jenni Gudgeon is having an open studio event this weekend. You can find Jenni over in Dunshalt (near Auchtermuchty) in Fife.

And if you don't manage to make it remember you can buy a selection of Jenni's new photographic Christmas cards right here in boo vake.

day one....

As from today boo vake will be open EVERY day until Christmas! Including Sundays (12-4) and Mondays (11-5), and we may even throw in the odd evening. If you're on the mailing list then we will be in touch, if not keep an eye on the blog or website for details.

Above - some of the jewellery & accessories we have in the shop at the moment. Details of which are here.

his & hers

We've gone all ancient Greek with these new pillow-cases from Lush Designs featuring fabulous he and she centaurs. They come in a pair and would be the perfect present for a stylish couple.
pair of centaur pillow-cases £29

made by lori

New bird brooches in by London-based accessory designers Lori. The teardrop brooches are made from sustainable walnut and obeche wood, and come in a little customised cotton drawstring bag. Very lovely indeed.

teardrop bird brooch £20

been here long?

The most commonly asked question heard in the shop has got to be 'have you been here long?' To which the reply is 'hmmmn.... just a wee while'. For those not in the know we have infact been selling our wares in Perth since 1993. For anybody interested in such things there is now a potted history of the 'boo vake' on the website under 'about us'. One day I'll dig out some pictures of way back just to prove it!

gift guide update

Finally the gift guides on the website have been updated! Not everything is on there but it should give an idea of what we have here at the moment. So many things have been coming in recently that it's been hard to keep up so will get back to posting more very soon.
See the gift guides here.

new lightshades

Some of the lightshades we have in the shop at the moment from the ladies of Lush Designs. Above and below is the new London shade in cream & black (£48).

Buffalo Bill's Wild West show in red (pendant) or a lovely yellow (lamp). The yellow one would be perfect for a standard lamp (£60) - infact it would be perfect for my standard lamp at home...mmmm.

Small fox & cubs shades in red (pendant) or pale grey & cream (lamp) -£30. We have this design on a bag as well.

Wild Boar shades - the 'big stumpy' in green (pendant) - £72, and small brown/black (lamp & pendant) - £28.

shop signs

Just finished the first two shop signs using Alison Hardcastle's designs. One more to do....
Alison now has a blog, which you can find here.

cycling in islay & jura

A few pics from our wee cycle/camping trip to Islay & Jura last week. Despite the much wetness, damp camping, brain freeze, and looking like a midden for 3 days, this is what made it all worthwhile.....

waiting for the ferry at Kennacraig

the 8th century Kildalton Cross

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Islay is all about the whisky so of course we had to visit some of Islay's eight whisky distilleries (and Jura's one).

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Debbie's cafe in Bruichladdich

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Finlaggan

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Port Askaig

looking over to Jura

The Paps of Jura coming into view

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ferry over to Jura

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the walled garden at Jura House

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Had a really nice time, lovely scenery and met some lovely people (between the wetness). The final night we gave up on the camping and got a room in the Port Askaig Hotel.....

.....but just to show you it ain't all glamour this was our first night's camping. Tent put up in the dark in the Kennacraig ferry terminal carpark. Four tent pegs and tied to the car!

robin and mould

I try not to act on impulse (too much) when looking for new things for the shop but that all went out the window when I saw these screen-printed owls & cushions by Amy & Christian from Robin and Mould. And they certainly don't disappoint - beautifully made and even more lovely in real life!

Everything is hand screen-printed in their Wiltshire Studio using water based inks on a heavy linen/cotton mix. The owls come in either mustard yellow or teal (with teal or purple felt wings & feet) and are printed on both sides. The 'dream big little one' cushion comes in teal with a pure linen dark navy blue backing.

Come and see them for yourself!!

owl £20, dream big little one cushion (with pad) £24